I heard the headline on radio news, then got the details; they were sickening.

A military Chinook helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan by Taliban insurgents, using a rocket-propelled grenade. All 38 on board were killed.

Thirty-one were Americans. Twenty-two were Navy SEALs, three were Air Force, a five-member Army chopper crew, a dog handler and his military canine. Also killed were seven Afghan special forces troops and an interpreter.

They’re all dead. It was the worst loss of American lives in a single day since that war began 10 years ago.

But it’s funny how things get reported when politics gets in the mix.

NATO staff issued an official statement stating that “38 Afghan and coalition service members” had been killed in the attack.

If Americans want a good idea of how the lives of their children are regarded by NATO Coalition Forces – consider that their statement makes it look as though 38 Afghans were killed – oh yes, Afghans and coalition members.

Huh?!?

Who were those “coalition members?” What countries do they represent? How many countries from the NATO coalition?

Oh. Just one country. The United States.

Gee, they left that out. I wonder why. Do you get the sense we’re being taken for granted? The good old US of A is there, and always will be, to cover their backs.

Well, so far, anyway.

That’s right. Except for the Afghans on board, the reality is that all of the coalition members were Americans – young men who volunteered to wear the uniform of their country and follow the orders of the commanders to go to war, fight and perhaps get maimed or killed in the process.

There’s no question that other troops from other countries are casualties in this so-called kinetic military operation – for real people, that means “war” – that we find ourselves in, but when you have an incident of this magnitude, killing so many special forces from one country, indeed the country footing the bill in more ways than one, you’d think someone in NATO would notice or, at the very least, one of our esteemed generals would remind them.

But no, they didn’t and neither did the top guy, the American commander in chief – the man who is president of the United States of America.

You know who I mean: Barack Obama.

He’s the one in the office where, as Harry Truman famously said, the buck stops.

He’s the man ultimately responsible for the welfare of our military and indeed, for the welfare, safety and security of the entire country, for every single American citizen.

He’s the one who refuses to name the enemy in this war, whose administration has come up with such semantic nonsense as “kinetic military operation.” They do it with a straight face, and we let them get away with it.

He’s the one who, after a short pause, issued a statement concerning the attack on the Chinook.

Was there anger or outrage in his words? Was there resolve to back our military obligation in this “war?” Was there any emotion that would relate to the senseless killing of our troops – even a little revenge?

Not that I could see. There wasn’t a tinge of anger or fury at the loss of life, the waste of our youth for a cause that even Obama can’t define.

No, Obama was ever cool, spouting the expected words extending thoughts and prayers to the families and loved ones.

But then he said words which infuriated me, trite words which, in light of the circumstances, are more an insult than a condolence – you know, the usual that their deaths would not be in vain.

No, really?

“We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied.”

I guess that means that we’ll continue to have our finest on the front lines of terrorism, sitting ducks for mayhem as politicians at home continue their naïve prattle about the “good” we are doing in countries that hate our guts.

Where was a statement that we would hunt the enemy down relentlessly – just as the SEALs are trained to do? In fact, just as any military should.

Where was a statement that this country would not stand for more of this carnage – that we would stop the school, road and hospital building and start fighting a war against the enemy of our freedoms? Where was a statement that would indicate we are even in a war?

The message was that they didn’t die in vain.

Really, Barack? Then just exactly what was the benefit of their deaths?

The constant PC reaction that what the dead did was to sacrifice their lives is simply disgusting.

They did (and do) no such thing!

Our military, all of them, are trained to fight and win and those men were there to do just that. They were not there to “sacrifice” their lives.

If Barack Obama, or anyone else in government, sees our military injured and dead as sacrifices, they ought to be thrown out of office immediately for basic, insulting stupidity, at the very least.

When the bodies were returned to Dover Air Force Base, Obama ordered there be no media coverage – so, no pictures for the public to see.

Well, not exactly. At least one picture was taken: Obama in profile, saluting, along with a line of other officials.

Then, it just happened to be posted on the White House website.

It should make great, re-election campaign propaganda.

But we know he cares – that’s why he ordered flags to be flown at half-staff to honor the dead.